What Would Have Been
by An Interesting Experience
Summary: At the opening feast, any hope of having a normal school year is shattered when a group of familiar strangers appear in the Great Hall. Claiming to be from a universe where an evil monster named 'Lord Voldemort' made Harry Potter 'The-Boy-Who-Lived', people from both universes get the opportunity to see what would have been if certain events had gone a little differently.


**Author's Note: I'm new to writing fan fiction! This is my first story, and the first couple chapters are going to be mostly setting up the story. Let me know what you think!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of J.K. Rowling's characters.**

* * *

Chapter 1

"Dad!" The high pitched squeal cut through the air and assaulted his previously sleeping ears. With a groan, James rolled over and tried to ignore the inevitable. With his eyes still stubbornly closed, he reached a hand out to the other side of the bed. When his hand was only met with empty sheets, a moment of panic struck his heart before realizing that of course the bed would be empty. Lily was already back at Hogwarts, doing last minute preparations before the students arrived this evening.

"Dad!" This time the cry was closer, and James knew that nothing was going to save him. Blindly he reached and found his glasses on the nightstand. Putting them on his face, he blearily sat up in bed. "Dad!"

"Yeah, sweetheart?" Taking the groggy, sleepy response as permission, the bedroom door flew open and a dark haired girl ran in. She was already dressed and her hair was pulled up in some strange fashion that James vaguely recognized as the newest and latest style. When she saw her father lying in bed, still half asleep, her face took on an affronted look.

"What are you doing still in bed? Have you called off work yet? We need to get ready! Can you check my truck? What if I forget something? What if Davy and Charlie won't get ready in time?" These lightning fast questions bombarded James from all sides, and with the fear the he overslept, James frantically grabbed his watch from the nightstand. Glancing down to see the time, he smiled, realizing that this was just his daughter's nervousness and excitement.

"Vi, it's 8:00. You need to calm down." He smiled at his daughter, and she responded with a shaky smile of her own. "I told the office weeks ago that I would be coming in at noon today. I'm sure you've packed everything you need but I can check for you. Plus if you've forgotten anything, remember your mom is a teacher! You just need to tell her, and we'll make sure that we get it to you as soon as possible. What was your last question?" With a scratch of his head he remembered. "And I'll make sure that David and Charlie are ready in time, but the train doesn't leave until 11:00. From all the years of taking your siblings, we all know that getting to the station at 10:30 will give everyone enough time to get on the train and find a compartment."

Violet continued to smile weakly. "I know, I know. You and Mom have told me this a million times, I'm just so nervous!" Her hands fidgeted and danced along the edge of shirt.

James swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. "You have no reason to be nervous. Now come on, let's go have breakfast."

* * *

After twenty minutes of poking her spoon at a bowl of cereal, Violet declared that she needed to make sure that she packed all of her books and sprinted back up the stairs. With a sigh, James thought about following her and trying to help her calm down before shrugging to himself and deciding that nothing was going to make her feel better; in the end, it wasn't worth the effort.

James continued to slowly eat his breakfast. The eggs were cooked to perfection, and the sausage was sent straight from heaven. Thoroughly enjoying the calm before the storm, James tried his best to prepare himself for the whirlwind that he knew was coming his way. For several glorious minutes, the blissful silence that was only interpreted by the faint thumping of someone moving around on the second floor.

Two pairs of feet came bounding down the stairs, and the twins raced into the room and headed towards the fruit bowl that always sat in the middle of the kitchen table. As David reached for a banana, Charlie pushed his hand out the way and took it himself. Grabbing it back and shoving his brother away, David wore a triumphant grin as he unpeeled the banana. With a shrug, Charlie grabbed an apple instead. Sitting down at the table, David began to talk.

"So I had a really weird dream. I was in the back yard playing quidditch with Daisy! Honestly I should have realized it was a dream right then considering that Daisy hates flying, but then everything got even stranger. Charlie, you came outside riding on top of a buffalo. Why a buffalo, I don't know! Then you began to yell at us, but all you was shouting was weird quotes from those muggle movies that Mom has us watch. Stuff like "Luke, I am your father." and "Are you talking to me?" Then a giant football fell out of the sky! It must have been the size of a boulder. No, it was bigger than a boulder. Maybe about the size of a muggle car. No, wait it wasn't that big, but it was orange! No, it might have been purple…"

James said "hmmm" and "oh really?" at all the right spots, but didn't really pay attention to what his son was saying. Charlie, knowing his brother would talk about anything to anyone at any time, didn't even bother to pretend to pay attention. Not noticing his uninterested audience, David continued to outline every detail of his dream.

A tall red-headed girl waltzed into the room and uttered a sharp, "David, shut up! No one cares about your stupid dream." Either not hearing or not caring, David continued to outline in excruciating detail the football that had appeared in his dream.

"…must have been purple. But it wasn't a bright purple, it was kind of dull..."

"Dad, do you know where I put my transfiguration book?"

"What does it look like again?"

"…I guess the color doesn't matter, but I think it was made of metal, not plastic…"

"What do you think it looks like? It looks like a fifth year transfiguration textbook."

"Hey, I'm still your father! Don't take that tone with me." A loud crash came from upstairs. David continued to prattle on about his dreams. The cracks of house elves appearing and disappearing with breakfast food echoed around the house. Charlie absentmindedly knocked his glass over and soon a sea of orange juice spread across the table. James rubbed his temple as his headache grew and repeated to himself that he only needed to get through this morning before the blissful silence. "Have you checked your bedroom?" he asked in a semi-defeated tone.

"Check my bedroom, why didn't I think of that? It's not like that would be the first place I would check or anything! Thanks for all of your help, Dad!" With a huff Daisy stormed from the room, and James sighed before poking the remains of his breakfast.

With a groan, he stood up from the table. "I need to go get ready." Not expected a response and not receiving a response, James left the kitchen and walked up the stairs. Turning left at the top of the staircase, James practically dove into the relative quiet of his bedroom. Deciding to wear a casual black shirt with dark pants made picking out clothes incredibly easy. With a quick brush of his teeth, James was ready to go. Composing himself, James took a moment to appreciate the quiet before a yell of "Dad!" emerged from the background pandemonium.

"Yes?"

"I'm done with my trunk, can you help me get it down the stairs?"

"Sure!"

With a straightening of his glasses, James felt like he was preparing for battle as he opened the door. Sure enough, Daisy was waiting with her large red truck at the top of the stairs. Absentmindedly casting a "windgardium leviosa" James and Daisy followed the floating trunk down the stairs. Daisy then headed to the kitchen, undoubtedly to grab a quick breakfast. With a mutter of "whatever happened to thank you?" James headed to his office to make sure that all of his papers were organized for that afternoon.

* * *

"Dad! We're asking the house elves to transport our trunks down. Is that okay?" David yelled.

James murmured a distracted "That's fine!"

Some time passed, and James emerged from his office to find the twins lounging in the sitting room as they casually tossed an old, beat-up quaffle back and forth.

"When do we have charms?" Charlie was asking his brother.

"On Tuesdays and Thursdays, at 11:00. That's right after Harry's class, weirdly enough."

James jerked his head up. "Merlin's beard! Harry! Have either one of you talked to Harry yet? Do you know if he's awake?"

The twins shook their heads. "Remember that we're leaving at 10:30. You have less than thirty minutes before we leave!"

"We know, Dad"

"We're second years. We went through all of this last year."

"Plus, you don't think we remember going to the station to take Harry and Daisy for all those years?"

"And we told you that our trunks are already downstairs and ready to go."

"Just making sure!" With a final glance at the twins and at the time, James frantically raced up the stairs and turned to the right, down the hallway.

Passing Daisy's room, he paused, saying, "We're leaving at-"

Cutting her father off, Daisy finished "10:30, I know."

"Good." James continued his frantic rush and stopped next at Violet's room. Like a pinball, Violet was running back and forth. She picked up a random book and went to put it in her trunk before changing her mind and rushing to put it back in its place. "Vi, we're leaving soon."

On the verge of tears, Violet gazed up at her father. "What if I forget something? You said you would check my trunk!"

"I know, I know! And I will. Let me just check on your brother first." He turned from his youngest's room and jogged down the hall until he was standing in front of the door to his oldest's room. He sharply knocking on the door and called out his son's name.

Hearing no response, he opened the door and was greeted with the sight of his oldest son calmly sitting on his bed and flipping through a quiddach magazine. Further examination revealed a packed trunk leaning against the wall and that his son was dressed in comfortable, traveling clothes.

"What? Did you think I was still sleeping or something?" Harry asked with a smirk. "Did you really expect me to come downstairs and endure the David and Charlie show?"

Harry's smirk turned into a bitter smile. "Let me guess, Daisy is acting like a spoiled brat. You want to know why? It's because she's having 'a lover's spat' with her latest 'one true love.' How long do you think this relationship is going to last? I have a bet going with Nev that it lasts another two weeks, maximum. And don't think I haven't heard Violet running around. With how she's panicking, there's no way she'll be a Gryfindor. Maybe she'll make a nice little Hufflepuff."

Feeling his temper grow, James harshly responded, "Harry! You can't talk about your brothers and sisters that way!"

With a groan, Harry interrupted his father. "Don't give me that lecture again. 'They're your family, it's your job to set an example' Just because I'm related to them, that doesn't mean I have to like them."

Feeling a thousand years older, a weight settled on his shoulders. James sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day. "I don't have time to get into this with you now. Make sure you're ready to leave at 10:30." Calling a house elf to take Harry's trunk downstairs, James left his son's room and went to check his youngest's trunk. In his mind he repeated, "I just have to make it through this morning."

The watch read 10:28 as James and Violet stood in the entrance way. Violet had one hand almost violently clutched around her trunk, and James held a plain brown hat. The other four trucks sat on the floor of the entrance way, forming a neat circle with James and Violet. "Come on!" James shouted to the house. "It's time to go."

The twins emerged. An ecstatic smile filled David's face, while Charlie smiled in a way that matched his quieter, more controlled manner. They both ran up to their trunks and hefted them into an upright position. Daisy gracefully walked down the stairs and tossed her hair over her shoulder as she too grabbed her trunk.

They awkwardly stood there and stared at the final trunk. James knew it was impossible, but the trunk seemed to be laughing at them.

A glance down at his watch revealed the time to be after 10:30.

"Dad! We're going to be late!" Tears welled up in Violet's eyes.

"You said 10:30. And I'm here." Daisy added.

"Yeah! I told Theodore that we would meet him in the compartment at 10:40! You know how long it can take to get on the train. Theodore's always on time, even that one time that he had the flu…"

"Why does Harry get to march around like he owns the place?"

"What if we're late?"

"…really gross, snot everywhere, and he dragged himself out of bed…"

Charlie's quiet voice cut through the growing cacophony of noise. "It's not fair."

The final bit of James' patience evaporated. "Harry James Potter! If you are not down the stairs in the next minutes, I swear that we will leave you here!"

A pause that dragged on into eternity and Harry appeared at the top of the stairway. A lazy smile was plastered on his face, and he leisurely strolled down the stairs. A careless hand finally landed on the handle of his trunk, and James tried to reign in his temper, knowing it wasn't the time or place.

"Everyone put a hand on the hat."

Making sure that six hands had firm contact with the hat, James tapped his wand on top and activated the portkey. With a whoosh, they disappeared.


End file.
